UN gang leader asks naturopath to treat bullet wounds

Kim Bolan, Vancouver Sun05.09.2011

Photo showing United Nations gang leader Clay Roueche being taken into custody in Texas on May 17, 2008. Roueche was turned away from Mexico and forced to land in the United States where he was arrested on drug charges. Prosecutors are looking to put him behind bars for 30 years now.Anon
/ Screen grab

Jonas LaForge, ND, is alleged in wiretaps to have met with Clay Roueche.Handout
/ Vancouver Sun

United Nations gang leader Clay Roueche being taken into custody in Texas on May 17, 2008. Roueche was turned away from Mexico and forced to land in the United States where he was arrested on drug charges...
/ Vancouver Sun

Clay RouecheSubmitted photo
/ ..

A closer look at the class photo of members and associates of the UN gang. Clayton Roueche is in the middle at the front, crouching on the ground. James Coulter is also in the picture.Handout
/ ..

Police said UN gang founder Clay Roueche, shown here, was also involved in the conspiracy to murder the brothers, but has not yet been indicted.Jenelle Schneider
/ Vancouver Sun

Police evidence photos of an illegal Glock found in the Coquilam, B.C. condo of Clay Roueche, leader of UN Gang, after his May 17, 2008 arrest, Thursday, December, 10, 2009. The photos were filed in US District Court in Seattle, WA where Roueche will be sentence Dec. 16, 2009.Evidence
/ Vancouver Sun

Police evidence photos of an illegal Glock found in the Coquilam, B.C. condo of Clay Roueche, leader of UN Gang, after his May 17, 2008 arrest, Thursday, December, 10, 2009. The photos were filed in US District Court in Seattle, WA where Roueche will be sentence Dec. 16, 2009.Evidence
/ Vancouver Sun

Police evidence photos of a bullet in an ammunition clip inside an illegal Glock found in the Coquilam, B.C. condo of Clay Roueche, leader of UN Gang, after his May 17, 2008 arrest, Thursday, December, 10, 2009. The photos were filed in US District Court in Seattle, WA where Roueche will be sentence Dec. 1Evidence
/ Vancouver Sun

Police evidence photos of a bullet-proof Lincoln Navigator leased by UN Gang leader Clay Roueche seized by law enforcement after his May 17, 2008 arrest, Thursday, December, 10, 2009. The photos were filed in US District Court in Seattle, WA where Roueche will be sentence Dec. 16, 2009.Evidence
/ Vancouver Sun

Police evidence photos of a bullet-proof Lincoln Navigator leased by UN Gang leader Clay Roueche seized by law enforcement after his May 17, 2008 arrest, Thursday, December, 10, 2009. The photos were filed in US District Court in Seattle, WA where Roueche will be sentence Dec. 16, 2009.Evidence
/ Vancouver Sun

Related

United Nations gang leader Clay Roueche placed a panicked call to a Vancouver naturopath two years ago, looking for treatment for an associate with a bullet in his belly who was being driven from Calgary to B.C., wiretaps obtained by The Vancouver Sun show.

"Hey bro, it's me, ah, it's a bit [of] an emergency if you could text me back whatever time you are available tomorrow, I gotta handle something right away, all expenses paid and all that, so call me as you can, okay? Bye," Roueche said in his first call to the number of Dr. Jonas LaForge on New Year's Eve 2007.

An hour later Roueche left a second message for LaForge, indicating his "bro" had been shot.

"Hello. I have a friend here, uh, in town, I need to see you tomorrow, uh, middle abdomen, no exit, uh, that's all I know," Roueche said. "Okay, call me right away tomorrow, okay, bye."

Roueche eventually reached the man who police identified in court documents as LaForge. The same documents say the naturopath agreed to meet the gang associate on New Year's Day in Kelowna where he was visiting.

LaForge, who is registered with the B.C. College of Naturopaths, did not respond to several requests for an interview about his exchange with Roueche and whether he did treat the shooting victim.

Police did not want to comment on this case, but say they are concerned that gangsters may be avoiding mainstream medical treatment after shootings to thwart criminal investigations into attempted hits and other gangland violence.

"There are circumstances where gunfire is heard, blood is found but nothing more," said Vancouver Police Insp. Brad Desmarais, the head of the city's gang squad.

"Anecdotally we understand that there are some friendly doctors out there .... Several of my people kind of surfaced that there are these doctors who will treat these people."

There is no B.C. law mandating doctors, naturopaths or other health care professionals to report patients with gunshot wounds, Solicitor General Ministry spokesman Ian Indridson said Friday.

"The province is considering legislation that would mandate health care facilities and other types of health care providers to report gunshot wounds to police," Indridson said. "It is recognized that for the legislation to be effective, it would need to apply to all types of health care providers and not just hospitals offering emergency treatment."

Five other provinces have mandatory reporting, Indridson said.

Howard Greenstein, registrar of the College of Naturopathic Physicians of B.C., said his members have not even looked at the issue.

"Since the treatment of gunshot wounds is outside of the scope of practice of naturopathic physicians, such a situation has not come to the attention of the CNPBC," Greenstein said.

The bugged calls between Roueche and LaForge are part of a series of wiretaps made by the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit-B.C. and entered in U.S. district court in Seattle by U.S. attorneys in advance of Roueche's sentencing next week in a massive drug conspiracy case.

Police notes accompanying the calls said the Roueche associate is believed to have ben shot in Calgary earlier New Year's Eve, just hours after another gangster linked to Roueche, Mark Kim, was gunned down in the Alberta city.

Calgary police went to the second shooting, "but there were no bodies located."

"This would be consistent with a potential victim/suspect arriving in the area of Kelowna at around the time period of the phone calls between Roueche and the 'Doctor' regarding what sounds like a gunshot wound," the police notes filed in the U.S. court say.

Roueche got a text message from LaForge's number after his second call to the naturopath, saying, "Hey I'm in Kelowna coming home tomorrow, let me know what's up, leaving 12:30 should be in the 'Wack [Chilliwack] around 3:30."

Roueche then reaches a man by phone who police identified in the court exhibit as LaForge.

"I got, ah, they're probably gonna be passing where you are," Roueche said and the man responds: "K-town?"

Roueche says he is going to give his "bro" the naturopath's number.

"I'm gonna give it to him right now and then he'll probably be there, um ah, within like five hours or something and he'll probably crash for the night and see you first thing in the morning."

"Okay," the man on LaForge's phone replies.

There are no follow-up calls between Roueche and the naturopath that are entered in the U.S. court, and CFSEU spokesman Sgt. Bill Whelan said he could not comment on whether police followed up with the naturopath.

NDP justice critic Mike Farnworth said it should be mandatory for gunshot wounds to be reported to police, given the gang wars that have plagued the Lower Mainland over the last two years.

"If there is a gunshot wound, it is either a crime or an accident involving a gun," Farnworth said. "Police should be aware of those cases."

In addition, he said if someone is providing off-the-books treatment to wounded criminals, "it should be treated like you are aiding and abetting someone."

Desmarais and Sgt. Shinder Kirk, of the Gang Task Force, said wounded criminals often obstruct investigations any way they can by avoiding treatment or leaving the scene of the crime.

Last month, a Mission man who had been shot in the foot died hours later in a Maple Ridge apartment after an apparent drug overdose. Police speculated he may have taken something to relieve the pain of his injury, for which he sought no medical treatment.

Last May, shocked patients waiting for treatment at Ridge Meadows hospital watched gangster Steve Nagra pull up to the emergency room entrance in a dark SUV, peppered with bullet holes, and drag himself through the doors. He later died.

"As you are well aware, they often recognize their cohorts require treatment and roar up to the front door of an emergency room and kick them out to either live or die on the front steps of the hospital and speed off. That happens quite frequently," Desmarais said.

"It is very clear from the interviews our investigators have conducted that these individuals who are wounded are given very, very specific direction not to cooperate with police. It is not just a situation where they are saying well 'I hate you cops. I am not going to talk to you.' It is like 'I can't talk to you.' Even with some pretty egregious injuries resulting, where we are attempting to solve the crime, the cooperation just isn't there."

Kirk said he wouldn't be surprised if gangsters are trying to seek medical help under the table.

"Certainly they will do whatever they can to cover their tracks. If they do show up for treatment we get that stonewall - 'No, nothing happened' - even though there might be a gunshot wound," Kirk said.

"It is amazing the lengths a person involved might go to to cover up their involvement, to deflect attention away from themselves perhaps to somebody else to protect their situation or to avoid having law enforcement beginning an investigation at a particular scene - hence the driving to hospital themselves or getting to some kind of medical aid outside of official channels."

He said the notion of medical professionals treating gangsters clandestinely is right out of the movies.

"Could there be somebody in the medical profession doing that? I hope not. But yeah, there could be."

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Share

UN gang leader asks naturopath to treat bullet wounds

Video

Today's News

Best of Postmedia

Be afraid. Be very afraid. Ignore the diversions in the United States: athletes kneeling or standing during the national anthem; Republicans flailing and failing again on health care; a kick-boxing creationist possibly becoming senator from Alabama. Calamity looms elsewhere. We are hurtling toward war with North Korea. It may be as early as next month. […]

It wasn’t in the middle of a farmer’s muddy field or deep in the boreal forest where the Canadian oilsands truly struck pay dirt. It was inside Fort McMurray’s recreation centre. More than 1,400 oilpatch workers, corporate executives, provincial leaders and the country’s prime minister assembled 21 years ago in northern Alberta to grasp a […]

Google’s powerful search engine is defeating some court-ordered publication bans in Canada and undermining efforts to protect young offenders and victims. Computer experts believe it’s an unintended, “mind-boggling” consequence of Google search algorithms. In six high-profile cases documented by the Citizen, searching the name of a young offender or victim online pointed to media coverage […]

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.